The Ghost Eyes
by Marius Wales
Summary: A preteen boy and his family spent their Autumn vacation at a hotel called 'Pink Palace', where he meets a blue haired girl, around the same age as him, and the two quickly get along. Over time, the two of them will discover dark secrets about not just the Pink Palace, but themselves as well.
1. New Arrival

As the October sun was starting to set on the Pink Palace, a Ford Country Squire drove up to the nearest car park. When the car was successfully parked in the visitor zone, a family of four come out and got their first real look at the Pink Palace.

The father was wearing a red, tartan shirt and skinny jeans, had a goatee and looked like he could do with losing a bit of weight. The mother had long dark blonde hair and was wearing a purple suit-like outfit. The oldest of the two siblings was a girl that looked to be in her late teens, had a long ponytail at the back of her head, was wearing a pink sports outfit that hugs her curves and apparently shows off her belly. The younger sibling, who looked to be in his preteens, had big spiky brown hair that was pointing upwards, was wearing a red hoodie with a grey long sleeved shirt underneath and navy jeans.

"Are you sure this is the place, honey?" the father said to his wife, very doubtfully.

The mother rolled her eyes and said, "Yes it is Perry, and don't sound so down. We just got here after all." She turned to open the back of the car to carry out their suitcases.

Perry went over to help her with the bags. "I know Sandra, it's just thought it would be better constructed is all. This place looks like it could crumble at any moment," he whispered.

"You can criticize this place all you want, but not until we get in side okay?" she said mockingly, "Besides, isn't it good enough that its quite and peaceful around here?"

Perry sighed, "Yeah, I guess so."

While the two parents were talking, the two of their children were getting out their stuff out of the car.

The older sibling was talking on her phone, saying snobby comments such us, "So I told her that 'if you do not have at least four hundred followers on Twitter, then there is like no way Mitch's cousin will want anything to do with you'. Yeah, I totally said that."

The younger sibling rolled his eyes as he overheard his sisters insufferable gossip, as he got out his back-pack and started to look around the place. He seemed to be fascinated of the creepy moor-like area. Putting his bag on behind him, he started to have a walk around out of the car park. But before he could that, his mother walked up to him.

"Where are you heading off to Norman?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. Is it okay if I... had a little look at the gardens and... stuff?" Norman asked.

His mother thought it through a bit, "I... guess it's okay. Just make sure that you get to our room before it gets to dark, okay?" she asked.

Norman nodded as his father walked over to him as well. "Oh, and also, make sure not to... you know, show you're 'ghost taking' side of yourself while we're here, alright son?" Perry added.

Norman sighed, "Okay."

"Great," his mother said, "Oh, and remember that we are in Room 3, okay darling?"

"Okay, okay!" Norman giggled at how overprotective his mother was being "I'll see ya." He then wondering off to the rusty garden, while the rest of the family continued to unpack the car.

* * *

Even though all of the garden was dirty and looked pretty mush abandoned, the entire place was filled with beautiful flowers, most of which were tulips. Norman wasn't the biggest fan of flowers, but even he couldn't deny the fact that it was a beautiful site. The garden also had a completely drained fish pond, which seemed to beets planted on the bottom of the pond for some strange reason.

Norman then stumbled upon a big rusty gate which reviled a path leading out of the Pink Palace area. Norman was tempted to go out and explore some more, but then realised that it will get dark soon. Took a moment to think it over whether or not to go out along the path before deciding to spend just a few minutes walking down the path. Little did he know that as he walked down the path, a small, scruffy, black shadow followed him.

* * *

On the top floor, in the biggest of all the apartments, a blue haired girl, that looked to be in her preteens, was wearing a red stripy, long-sleeved shirt and navy jeans, was looking out her window to see a family of three having a conversation with the landlord, Mrs. Lovat. She went downstairs to her kitchen where her mother was, who was typing away at her laptop at the table. Her mother had similar appearance as her except that the mother had black hair and a pointed nose.

"Hey Mom, it looks like the visitors are here," said the girl, knowing that her mother would give very little concern.

It took a while for her mother to respond, "Thats nice," she said, without taking her eyes off her laptop.

Coraline rolled her eyes but continued the conversation. "Yeah, but I'm not so sure about these guys. I mean, have you seen the one with the ponytail? Can't get off her phone for one second!" she proclaimed.

Her mother sighed, "Don't judge people straight away Coraline. Thats my job," she said.

Coraline pondered for a bit before saying, "Hm..., well the three of them just don't seem that great to me anyway."

"Four of them," the mother suddenly stated.

Coraline blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Mrs. Lovat said that it was family of four who were visiting this week. Two parents, one daughter and one son," the mother said, still not taking her eyes off the laptop.

"Weird, I just saw the daughter," said Coraline.

Her mother finally lifted her head from the laptop and looked at her daughter, "Actually, you're father said he saw a young boy go around the garden, like theres anything to look at." she said, not that interested.

Coraline wondered why he would go outside now of all times. It was getting dark after all.

"Oh, and apparently, from what Mrs. Lovet said, he's the same age as you" said her mother.

This grabbed Coraline's attention, "Oh, really?"

"Hmm," was all her mother said, then got back to her catalogue.

Coraline wondered if this boy was anything like her, since she went out to explore when she first arrived at the Pink Palace. She went over to the coat hangers to get her raincoat and then went to the door.

"I going outside, I'll be back soon!" Coraline shouted to her mother.

"Okay bye," her mother said, sounding a bit disinterested again.

Coraline sighed as she put her raincoat on, opened the door and when't outside.

* * *

Norman was now walking in an orchard, which had an old broken down tractor and a harvest cart, with apples in the baskets the were stacked on the cart that was just a rotting mess, no doubt they were just left there to rot. He looked up to see the apple tree blossom leaves falling to the ground, catching one of them in his hands. It was a clear sign that Autumn was here.

*Snap*

Norman jumped as he heard a twig snap behind him, dropping the leaf on to the ground. He slowly looked over to see a shadow of a something hiding in one of the bushes. He picked up the nearest stick and gently tiptoed over to see what it was.

"Hello?" he said, shaking.

A few seconds of silence pass before a scruffy black cat suddenly jumped out of the bush. Norman let out a little 'yelp' and jumped back.

When he saw that it was just a cat, he let out a sigh of relief and chucked nervously. "Oh thank goodness, for a second there I thought you'd be a wolf or whatever," he said to the cat. The cat gave no replay. The cat just sat in front of him, tilting it's head to the left. Norman nilled down to his knees causing the cat to walk towards him and rubbed it's head and body on his legs as Norman scratched the cat behind it's ears.

"Whats a little cat like you doing out here by yourself?" he asked, knowing that the cat was not going to replay. As predicted the cat just purred has Norman continued to scratch the cat's chin. 'Maybe you don't have a home,' Norman thought to himself. "Well, I'm just heading down this path. You want to come with?" Again, the cat didn't respond.

Norman started to walk to the end of the path and realised that the cat was following behind him, which made Norman smile.

As Norman reached the end of the path, he noticed a circular shape underneath the mud, with little, red mushrooms around it. "I think this it is," he said to the cat, who seemed to be quite resident to go any further.

He put his bag near an old tree stump before going over examine the mysterious shape. He pick up a flat rock and used it to dig through the mud. He eventually dug away all the mud to find a circular wooden platform. He knocked on the wooden platform which made a loud echo coming from underneath.

"I think this the well little guy," he looked over to see the cat a few meters away from where Norman was. "Oh, what is it little guy," Norman questioned the cat. As the cat sat away, it let out a snarl, showing it teeth. "You're afraid of this place? What, is there a monster down here?" he asked the cat jokingly. The cat then looked behind itself at the Pink Palace, for some reason, and then back at Norman. Norman was curious as to way the cat was acting so strange all of a sudden.

"Oh, he's always acting weird," said a voice behind Norman.

Norman jumped with a 'yelp', a second time today, and feel on the ground as he quickly turned around to see a blue haired girl, that looked to be his age, who was wearing a yellow rain coat, red stripy, long-sleeved shirt, navy jeans and rain boots. She let out a small laugh when she saw his reaction.

"Sorry, but I just couldn't help myself," the girl said, still giggling.

Norman caught his breath, but he didn't responded. Once Coraline stopped giggled, she noticed that he was just sitting on the ground and staring at her without making a sound. She quickly realised that he was one of those shy kids. She walked towards him, concerned.

"Hey, Its okay," she said gently, "I'm sorry I scared you."

She held out a hand to help him up. He looked at her hand for a few seconds and excepted her offer.

Once she helped him back to his feet, Norman finally respond with, "Its uhh... alright. I'm sorry, I'm... just kind of jumpy today." He looked over at the cat and then back at the girl, "Is, uh..., is this cat yours?"

The girl blinked, "What, oh no. He's not my cat. He just lives around here."

"Oh. You mean he doesn't have an owner?" he asked.

"Thats right. He's pretty much a wild cat, unless its raining, then he turns into a real wuss-puss," she said, which made Norman chuckle a bit, but also made the cat growl at her annoyingly.

"So, do you live around here?" Norman asked.

"Sure do, I live in the Pink Palace. You staying in the guest room?" she said.

"Yeah," he simply stated.

"Quite the wreck this place is, isn't it?" she asked, knowingly.

"Kind of," he admitted.

"Yeah, this dump's so bad when you get used to it," she said, jokingly, "My names Coraline by the way."

Norman thought that he miss heard what she said, "Caroline?" Norman asked.

"No, its Coraline. Coraline Jones," she stated.

"Oh, sorry. I've just... never heard it... pronounced like that," he said nervously.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," she said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"But I like it," Norman simply said.

Coraline was taken back a little, "Wait, really?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think its cool when people have unique names," Norman said with a smile.

This made Coraline smile too, "Thanks. You're... you're, I think, the first person to say that."

"Huh," Norman said, feeling a bit sorry for her. He just realised that he didn't introduce himself, "Oh, my names Norman."

"Ah, like Norman Reedus?" Coraline asked.

Norman looked that her, confused, "Who?"

"Never mind," she shrugged off.

Norman then remembered that he didn't know what the time was. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know what time it is, would you?" he asked Coraline.

"Oh sure, yeah," she said, before rolling up her sleeve to check her watch. "Its nearly 7 o'clock."

Norman's eyes widened, "Oh, shoot! I should be back to the house. Would you like walk back with me?"

"Well actually, I was just going to hag around here for a while," said Coraline.

"Oh, okay," he said, a bit disappointed. "Well in that case, would you like to hangout tomorrow?"

"Of course. We're living in the same area after all," she said with a smirk.

Norman let out a small chuckle, "Yeah. Well, I'll see you around."

"Sure thing," she said, waving to him as Norman ran down the path back to the Pink Palace.

When Norman was out of site, Coraline walked over to the cat, nilling down next to the cat. "He didn't see anything weird, right?" she asked the cat.

The cat nodded to her.

"Good," she said, relieved, "Best if he doesn't know, huh?"

The cat, once again, nodded.

* * *

Norman opened the door to his family's hotel room to see his family around a wooden table, in a dull looking kitchen.

"There you are Norman. Just in time," said his mother, relived.

"Yeah, sorry i'm a little late," Norman said. He took a seat between his mother and his sister, the later was endlessly texting on her phone, which her mother notised.

"Courtney, no phones at the table," said Sandra, with the a bowl of cooked microwave potatoes.

"Fine," Courtney groaned and put her phone in her pocket.

Everyone helped themselves to the food on the table, which included potatoes, mashed carrots and cooked ham. Compare to the rest of his family members, Norman picked out only a little of what he was. He wasn't the type of person who eat a lot every day, "So, how was the garden pumpkin?" Sandra said to Norman.

Norman was a little annoyed that she called him 'pumpkin', but he responded anyway, "It was just filled with flowers and... rocks.. and... an... empty pond and... rocks and flowers... and... even more rocks-"

"Okay, I think we get it son," said Perry, before taking a bit out of his slice of ham.

Sandra, who was kind of annoyed of Perry's attitude towards her son, asked Norman again, "Did you meet anyone else from around here?"

"Well, I stumbled upon a stray black cat if that counts, and then-"

Courtney interrupted him and clucked. "Of course you would count a cat as a person," she said with a smirk.

"Now Courtney, be nice," Sandra said to her daughter. She then aloud Norman to continue.

Norman then smirked back at his sister, as he knew that his next answer would surprise her. "Well you'll be happy to know that I met someone who is the same age as me."

This almost took everyone by a surprise, especially his mother, "Really? Oh, thats wonderful dear," Sandra said happily.

Norman knew that his mother would be happy for him, and he was happy for that, "Yeah, well she is really cool, and quite nice-"

"Hold on a minute," Courtney interrupted again, which was really starting to annoy Norman, "Do my ears hear that you have a girl as a friend for once?" she asked.

Norman was confused, "Yeah, why?"

Courtney looked like she was ready to squeal of excitement, "Oh my gosh, you've got a possible girlfriend!"

"Wait, what?" Norman asked out loud, "We just met an hour ago."

"And do you like her?" she asked him.

"Well yeah, as a friend-"

"Then it's only a matter of time," she said teasingly.

"Courtney, stop teasing you're brother and eat you're food," their mother finally said, saving Norman from anymore embarrassment.

As they continued to eat their dinner, Courtney whispered over to Norman, "So you'll make the first move, right?"

"Will you stop?!" he whispered back, frowning at his sister.

* * *

Norman was lying on his bed in the middle of his hotel room, in his pyjamas, reading the nineteenth volume of his favorite comic book series ' _Night of the Walking Corpses_ '. He was also looking around his room, which was a lot more clean then he predicted but was still quite dusty and mouldy.

He looked over to his right to see his clock and saw that it was now 11:49pm. He put his comic away in his bag, turned of the lamp that was beside the clock and rolled over, rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes, ready to get some sleep. Even though he was nervous, Norman was actually looking forward to see Coraline tomorrow, its not everyday that you find someone as quirky as you are.

*Hiss*

Norman shot his eyes open as soon as he heard that quiet hissing noise. With his head still resting on his pillow, his eyes looked around the room to see where the sound came from. After a few seconds of not hearing anything else, he decided to shrug it of and go back to sleep.

*Hiss!*

Norman lifted his head of the pillow when he heard the sound again. To him, the strange noise kind of sounded like a voice trying to get his attention.

"Hello?" Norman quietly whispered. He looked around the room to see if there was anyone in the room. "Is there anybody in here?" he asked again.

Despite having an uneasy feeling, Norman put his head back on the pillow and drifted off into a nice and peaceful sleep, unaware of the small amount of dark green mist coming from the walls.

* * *

 **" _Night of the Walking Corpses_ " is a made up mixture of " _Night of the Living Dead_ " (1968, film), and " _The Walking Dead_ " (2003-present, comic book). Hopefully Robert Kirkman and George A. Romero won't join forces and sue me.**


	2. The Pink Palace

_Black._

 _That's all that Norman could see. He couldn't see anything else._

 _He made sure that he didn't have his eyes closed, but, as expect, no luck._

 _He tried to say, 'Hello', but not a sound came of his mouth. When he started to walk around in the darkness, he noticed that his footsteps made no noises either. He then jumped up and down to see if it would made even the tiniest amount of noise. It did not._

 _He started to walk faster, hoping that he would find something in the darkness._

 _He finally came across something different. Something... he did not expect._

 _Green fog._

 _Even thought he just came across it, the fog started to spread everywhere. Soon, the whole black void was filled with dark green water droplets._

 _At the very least, the fog provided some light in the area... for some reason._

 _He heard a sound. A sound of someone... crying. When he listened to it, he identified it as a woman's voice._

 _A shadow quickly pasted over him._ He _jumped._

 _The weeping sound got louder and louder and louder and... it_ _stopped._

 _When the crying stopped, Norman noticed that he was now standing in the middle of a still and gigantic shadow. It was the shape of a hand, a skinny spider-like hand. Then suddenly... a **FLASH!**_

Norman bolted up from his pillow, panting heavily. He looked around his room to see that the sun was up. He looked over to his clock and saw that the time was 10:20am.

' _What the heck was that about?!_ ' he thought to himself.

* * *

"So, me and Norman said that we could meet each other today. I mean we don't know where or when but still," Coraline explained.

"So, that's your excuse, huh?" Mel asked, as she poorer herself a cup of coffee.

"Please, Mom? He seems like a cool guy. Besides, what else am I supposed to do while Wybie's away?" she pleaded to her mother.

"You sure you don't want to come with me into town today?" her mother suggested, "I mean, you do need new shoes."

"Nah," said Coraline, "What's wrong with my shoes anyway?" she lifted her left leg to show her mother one of her shoes. This certain shoe had a repulsive appearance thanks to its mossy green colour and worn out laces.

"Gah! They almost look as bad as yours," Mel said, to her husband, who was carrying a hammer, a plastic tin of niles and a ladder.

"Excuse me. My monkey slippers are fine," he replied, showing he's monkey slippers, which also looked as if they were falling apart.

Mel sighed. "Bad fashion sense, it rans in your side of the family," she said to her husband. "Oh, by the way, are you still trying to fix the heating upstairs? You sure you don't need some help?"

Her husband chuckled. "Honey, I'm a grown man, I think I can fix a few leaky pipes," he said, before walking upstairs.

Mel rolled her eyes and turned to her daughter, "Okay, you can spend some time with your new friend.-"

"Yes!" Coraline proclaimed.

"As long as you agree to go to the shops with me, on Wednesday, okay?" Mel stated.

"Okay, fine, whatever keeps you from freaking out" said Coraline, as she went down the hallway to get her raincoat.

* * *

Norman walked down the rusty and dusty hallway, now changed into his day clothes, to the kitchen. He was hardly much of a morning person, which can explain the exhausted look in his eyes.

However, when he smelt the waffles, currently being made by his mother in the kitchen, his mood lightened up a bit. He sat at the table, in the same spot as yesterday, between his mother and sister.

"Ah, there you are sleepy-head!" said Sandra.

"Hey, Mom," Norman replied.

"Did you have a nice sleep last night?" she questioned.

Norman looked down at the table. "Oh yeah, I had a... decent enough sleep."

"Decent?" his mother asked.

"Yeah, just fine," he said, while picking a few waffles off of the serving plate.

Although she was uncertain of his answer, Sandra shrugged it off as she sat next to him, "Thats good, honey."

While he was pouring maple syrup on to his waffles, he remembered about the whispering noise, "Say, did anyone hear a strange noise last night?"

Everyone looked at Norman, confused. "What noise?" Sandra asked.

"A whistling noise, almost like a whisper?" he asked, but even he knew that they still didn't know what he was talking about.

"I didn't here anything," Perry replied.

"Thats because you sleep like a rock, Perry," Sandra said, which caused Perry to frown at her.

"Whatever, it was defiantly your head messing with you, as always," Courtney stated. Norman rolled his eyes at her response.

"Or maybe someone died here and their ghost is calling to you," Perry said to Norman.

"Now Perry," Sandra said to her husband.

"What? It could be possible. This is Norman we're talking about."

Sandra had to admit that Perry made legitimate point. "Do _you_ think it was a ghost dear?" she asked Norman.

"I'm not sure," Norman replied, "But it could be."

Norman's face had a look of uncertainty and worry, which grabbed the attention of his concerned mother.

Sandra put her arm around his neck to comfort him, "Don't worry, honey. Maybe it was nothing major, like the wind, or a weird bug or... your dad's snoring."

"Hey!" Perry shouted to his wife, with his mouth full of waffles.

This made Norman giggle, "Okay, thanks Mom."

"Thats what I'm here for," his mother added. "Why don't we change the subject. Courtney, what are are planing on doing today?"

Courtney looked away from her phone, for the first time today, and finally made eye contact, "Actually, I was planning on sending Mitch a cute, but also funny, gif I made all by myself. I mean, true, he still has a boyfriend, but I know that deep down inside there is a little voice in his soul saying 'Courtney is the one for me! AND IS THE ONLY ONE FOR ME!'"

Sandra was a little taken back after her daughter's slightly psychotic plan to spit to boyfriends apart for her own self benefit, "Well... thats... good, I think. Well, Perry and I are going into town today. We heard of this shop that sells both furniture and gardening tools, isn't that weird?"

"Hmm hmm, indeed-y do," Perry said, with an obvious bored attitude, much to Sandra's tolerance.

Sandra looked over to Norman, "How about you, Norman?"

"Oh well... I was thinking of going over to the main building and meeting the... people who live there," Norman suggested.

Sandra smiled, "Why that a wonderful idea! ' _New friends = new adventures_ ,' I always say."

"Since when?" Norman asked.

"Just now," his mother simply said.

"Wait," Courtney said to Norman, "That's where the girl you met yesterday lives, right?"

"Yes," replied Norman, with a sigh.

Courtney gave him a look which basically said, 'You dog', while moving her eyebrows up and down.

"Don't tease you're brother, Courtney," Sandra said.

"Come on, you were thinking it," Courtney said to her mother.

Soon after eating his breakfast, Norman when over to the other side of the kitchen, where all their coats, hats and shoes were, and put his shoes on.

His mother noticed her son heading towards the door, as she finishing her toast, "You going out right now, honey?"

"Yeah. Is that okay?" Norman asked his mother.

"Of course, dear," his mother replied, "I'll leave a key under the mat if you get here before us."

"Okay, thanks Mom, see you guys later," he shouted to his family.

"Say 'hi' to your girlfriend for me," Courtney said.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Norman shouted at his sister, before slamming the door.

* * *

It was a good thing that the, recently built, vacation apartments was practically just over 20 meters away from the Pink Palace Apartments, this way, Norman could just walk over to the Palace in half a minute.

Norman was starting to grow on the area he was currently staying in, especially because it reminded him of horror films, based in the moors, that he watched or mysterious folktales he heard about. ' _Ashland is the perfect setting for those type of stories,_ ' he thought to himself.

As he finally reached the pink mansion like building, he stood in front of it and observed the enormous 18th century styled house.

"Dras, dva, tri, chetyri. Dras, dva, tri, chetyri. Dras, dva, tri, chetyri. Dras, dva, tri, chetyri..."

Norman could have sworn that he was hearing someone from the rooftop, counting to himself in a foreign language over and over. He walked backwards to see who the voice belonged to.

When he got a good view of the whole building, Norman saw a tall skinny man performing calisthenics on the rooftop. The man had a very strange appearance. He looked to be around 50 years of age, was quite tall, had a thin head and face with a long untamed moustache. He also had hairy shoulders and armpits. Despite most of his body, especially his limbs, being incredibly skinny, he had a large stomach, which jiggled every time he moved. But above all of that, the strangest thing about his appearance is that he pale blue skin, like he had been outside for way too long. Also, judging by the state of his shorts, boots and stained yellow vest, it looked like he didn't wash his clothes often.

"...Dras, dva, tri, chetyri. Dras, dva, tri, chetyri. Dras, dva, tri-"

The strange man stopped counting to himself when he spotted Norman. Norman nervously waved at him. "Hello, up there," he shouted to the blue man, "Why are you on the rooftop?"

The blue man then jumped back behind the house, away from Norman's point of view. Norman was confused by that sudden action. He was about to walk to the other side of the house, when he heard something land right behind him.

"Uprazhneniye," said the blue man, as Norman quickly turned around.

"Is very important for rebyata's, such us myself, to get some Uprazhneniye," he said to Norman. He had a very strong Russian accent. He was also on just his right leg, like a flamingo, squatting up and down.

"Okay," Norman said awkwardly, with a nervous smile.

The man gave Norman a look of curiosity. "And who might you be Little boy?" he said, making it sound more like an order instead of a question.

"Oh yeah, s-sorry," Norman shuddered, "My name's Norman, Norman Babcock."

"A pleasure my son," said the Man, proceeding his excursuses while talking to Norman, "I am 'The Amazing Bobinsky', but you can call me Mr. B, as most peoples do, sometimes people call me, 'Blue Guy', for reason why? I do not know."

"Amazing Bobinsky?" Norman questioned.

"Da!" Bobinsky stated, "Founder and director of 'Bobinsky's Jumping Mice Circus'."

Norman was confused, "Jumping mice? Like, do they... just... jump all over the place?"

"Net, Net," Bobinsky interrupted, "I have trained them to play little trumpets, balance themselves on the beach balls and both at once. Well, okay the latter is not usual routine, even if the mooshkas seem to think otherwise."

Norman was one again confused "Who?"

"The Mice!" Bobinsky proclaimed.

"Oh, okay... sure," said Norman. Although he knew that the idea of this man talking to mice seemed crazy, he decided to play along.

"Tell me, from what place do you come for?" Bobinsky asked.

"Blithe Hollow, in Massachusetts," Norman simply said.

"Never heard of such place," Bobinsky instantly said.

"Wait, really?" Norman asked, rather shocked, "You never heard of- the... the... mysterious storm at hit the town? You know, on the news?" Norman was clearly not telling Bobinsky the whole story.

"Ah yes, the tele-radio thingamajig, I do not have one of those," Bobinsky simply said, "It looks fancy, but not for me."

' _You're the one_ ,' Norman though to himself.

"Hey Norman, Hey Mr. B!" a familiar voice shouted over to them.

Both Bobinsky and Norman looked over to the right to see Coraline walking over towards the two.

"Hey Coraline," Norman said as she walked over to him.

"Zdravstvuyte, Miss Caroline," Bobinsky proclaimed.

Norman was about to correct Bobinsky but Coraline beat him to it, "Again Mr. B, it's Coraline."

"Agh," shouted Bobinsky, "So sorry. Is been whole year since you moved in and I's still can't get it right."

"It's okay. I see you've met Norbert here," she said, nodding her head towards Norman, who was rubbing his left arm awkwardly.

"Why yes," said Bobinsky, "I's was telling him about my amazing circus, which you don't have to tell him about now because he probably already knows how amazing it is."

"Uh, yes," Norman said to Coraline, not wanting to offend Bobinsky.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Norbert, but I must tend to my circus," Bobinsky said, as he started to walk away, "Those mice aren't going to jump on beach balls themselves."

"Sure thing," Norman said, "It was nice to meet you, Mr. B."

"Daas vee Daan ya, Norbert," Bobinsky said as he climbed up the rain gutters to his apartment, instead of walking up the stairs.

When Bobinsky was out of sight, Norman turned to face Coraline. "Hey," he said to Coraline.

"Hey," she said back. His nervous behaviour was making her grin.

For a few seconds, the two of them just awkwardly stood beside each other, not knowing what to say.

Norman then looked at the house again, "So, this is where you live?"

"Uh huh, me, mom and dad are in that one, over there," she pointed to the door on the middle floor.

"It huh... huh... hmm... this whole place... kind of looks like... a Hitchcock setting, right?" said Norman, hoping to amuse Coraline.

Coraline gave a little chuckle, "Yeah, I guess it does. But you should see the inside, it's like it was designed by a spider or whatever."

"Really?"

"Well, not really, but you get what I mean, right?" she said.

"Sure, sure," Norman agreed, "So, uh... Mr. Bobinsky?"

"Uh, oh yeah," Coraline realised, "I know that he seems a bit odd, but he is a cool guy when you know him."

"Have you seen the jumping mice?" Norman questioned.

"Only once, and they were pretty well trained," she answered, "Although, I really hesitate to call them mice. They look more like little rats."

"You serious?" he asked, with a chuckle.

"You better believe it, pipsqueak," she grinned back.

Norman was a little bothered by the nickname she just gave him, "Pipsqueak? I'm only, like, a centimetre shorter then you!"

"That still counts, pipsqueak," she said, with yet another grin. "And your pointed hair doesn't count," she added, using her right hand ruffle his hair.

Norman stepped back from Coraline, to get her to stop messing up his hair. He straightened his hair back up, while Coraline giggled a little. "Well... you... you..." Norman shuddered, trying to come up with a comeback.

"Yes?" Coraline questioned, mockingly.

"You're not so... perfect yourself, you... little miss... blue brain," he replied.

Coraline pretended to look offended, "OMG, it must have taken you all night to come up with that."

"Okay, okay," Norman said, defeated, "So, what do you do around here?"

"Well, not much, I usually hang out with my friend, Wybie," she said.

Norman was a little confused by the name she just said, "Wybie?"

"It's short for 'Why Born'," she stated.

"Geez, that seems a bit harsh, even for parents," Norman said.

"Actually, it was he's grandma who named him," she admitted.

"Oh, okay. So where is Wybie?" he questioned, not wanting to question Wybie's, supposedly, deceased parents.

"He's on a field trip right now," Coraline stated, "He won't be back for a few days."

"Okay," Norman understood.

"It's nothing new," Coraline confessed, "I don't see him that much anyway."

"Hmm, so I'm your boyfriend's replacement then?" he questioned, with a smirk.

"What, no you're not, and he's not my boyfriend!" Coraline loudly protested.

"Calm down," he said, still smirking, "I'm just messing with ya."

"Oh great, you even think like him, as well," she groaned, hitting him on the same shoulder as before.

"Ow!" Norman proclaimed, "What was that for?"

"You know what was for," she said back.

"Okay, okay, geez," he interrupted, "So, what else do you do around here?"

"Well, sometimes I go to Miss Spink and Forcible in the basement," said Coraline.

Norman was intrigued, "What are they like?"

"Well... they are polite... at least one of them tries to be," Coraline tried to explain, "You wanna meet them?"

* * *

Coraline and Norman walked down the stairwell to the basement flat. Coraline used the knock on the door, which had the words ' _comedy/tragedy_ ' written on it, and the two of them wait. Norman looks down at the doormat, which reads ' _No whistling in the house_ '.

"No whistling in the house?" Norman questioned.

"I still don't know what that means," Coraline admitted, "Maybe it was rule in the nineteen hundreds."

Norman lightly chucked at her joke as they both heard the door unlock.

The door opens to revile a short old woman, with a few old Scottish Terriers rushing out to run in circles around Coraline and Norman.

"Oh, for pity sake, desist you little beggars," the old lady shouted to the excited dogs, stepping outside with her walker. This old woman looked to be around her nineties, short, quite round, dark skinned with pink cheeks and fracked arms, had short pink hair and blue eye shadow. She was wearing a greenish blue dressing gown and had a white pearl necklace around her neck.

"Way hello, Caroline," the old woman proclaimed, "How are you today?"

"Fine thanks, Miss Spink," Coraline said to the woman. Norman could have sworn that he heard Coraline say, "It's still Coraline," under her breath.

Miss Spink noticed Norman next to Coraline, "And who might you be, young man?"

"My name's Norman... mam, it's... nice to meet you," he greeted.

"Oh yes, you must be one of the visiting family members," Miss Spink realised, "Please, do come in, both of you."

Miss Spink walked back in to her apartment, leaving the door wide open so Coraline and Norman could go in. The two of them took their shoes and jackets off and placed them by the front door.

The three of them walked to the living room. The whole apartment looked very similar to the backstage of a theatre, only there was furniture instead of props and costume hangers. Norman looked at the walls to see various posters of stage shows like _King Leer_ and _Julius Seize Her_ , which all featured two actresses as the leads, one of whom looked like a younger and skinny version of Miss Spink.

From the kitchen, which was behind a curtain to the left of the living room, entered another woman, who looked just the other woman from the posters. She was taller then Miss Spink, had short light grey hair, an enormous bust, lighter blue eye shadow and was wearing a pink dressing gown with blue lining.

"I do say, April," the other woman proclaimed towards Miss Spink, "Coraline seems to have a rather male appearance today."

Norman turned, with a confused look, "Wait, huh?"

Miss Spink rolled her eyes, "Oh no, Miriam, that is Norman."

The woman, known as Miriam, was confused, "Who?"

"One of the family members that are in the rental-"

"Ah, Yes! I knew that," Miriam interrupted Miss Spink, while picking up a pair of glasses on a long stick, in order to see. She turned to see Norman, examining him, "Ah! A new comer. I am Miss Miriam Forcible, however, you may call me Miss Forcible, if you wish."

"Norman, nice to meet you," he said.

"May I suggest that you have a spot of Caudle?" Miss Forcible suddenly said.

Before Norman could answer, Miss Spink interrupted, "Oh no. I do think he would like Espresso more."

"Nonsense, everyone knows that Caudle is a male's beverage," said Miss Forcible.

"Ah! I do not want to have this argument again," Miss Spink faced Norman, "What beverage would you like, dear?"

"It's okay, really. I'm... I'll have... uh...," Norman looked over to Coraline, who just shrugged, "... which ever's... quicker to... make, I guess."

"Caudle, it is then!" Miss Forcible proclaimed, as she rushed into the kitchen.

"Oh, no you don't. Espresso is what he truly desires!" Miss Spink said, chasing after Miss Forcible.

As soon as the two of them went to make Norman a drink, Norman and Coraline looked at each other, before quietly chucking.

While the both of them were sitting and waiting, Norman looked around the living room some more. The last thing he expected to see a collection of stuffed Terriers, dressed in sweaters with angel wings on them, on a tall bookcase. Norman, with a disturbed look on his face, turned to Coraline and pointed at the bizarre collection.

"Yep, their real," Coraline suddenly said, smirking, "Had the same look when I first saw it."

Coraline then looked at Norman again and noticed that Norman was giggling at the stuffed dogs. "Aww," Norman said at the dead dogs, as if they were still alive. Norman then noticed Coraline staring at him. He looked rather nervous.

"What were you giggling at?" she asked.

"Um..., um...," he said, trying to come up with an answer, "you know, their faces, are they happy or crazy, it's just like _what_? You know."

Coraline couldn't figure out whether or not to ask him what he was talking about. She decided to shrug it off, kind of.

Miss Spink and Forcible came back into the living room, with Forcible holding a cup of tea in her hands.

"So sorry, Norbert, but it appears that we do not have Espresso," Miss Spink said, to Norman.

"Or Caudle," Miss Forcible added.

Norman was fazed by it, "Oh, that's oka-"

"But, threat not," Forcible interrupted, "I have acquired some Jasmine for you," she announced, setting a cup of Jasmine tea on the table.

"Oh, thank you," Norman said to the both of them, leaning over to grab the cup handle and take a sip from his tea. "Hey, this is really good," he said, with a little smile.

"Thank you. We do try our best when it comes to refreshments," said Miss Spink, sitting down, with Forcible, at the opposite side of Norman and Coraline.

Since Norman was given a small amount of tea, he managed to finish his beverage not to long after it was given to him.

"Would you like me to read your leaves?" Miss Spink said, to Norman.

Norman looked over to Spink, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Your tea leaves, dear," Spink corrected, "Would you like me to read them?"

Norman looked down on his empty teacup, which had tea leaves at the bottom, "Oh, you can read tea leaves?"

"Precisely, my boy," she said.

"Sure, okay," Norman said handing his cup over to Spink.

Miss Spink took the teacup and examined it. "Oh, oh my gosh!" Spink suddenly proclaimed, to herself.

Norman and Coraline were quite startled by this sudden reaction "Is there something wrong?," Norman asked.

"Huh? Oh, sorry dear, it's just that... I haven't seen this in a long time," Spink said, handing the cup back to Norman so he can see for himself.

Norman took the cup, to see that the tea leaves had created the shape of an arrow pointing downwards. This only fead Norman's curiosity, "What does this mean?"

It took Miss Spink a moment before she replied, "My boy, it says that you will go in a wrong direction."

Norman and Coraline were a bit confused by what she said, norman looked back at the arrow shaped tea leaves. "A wrong direction?" he whispered to himself.

Miss Forcible walked over to Norman, "May I see for myself?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," said Norman, handing the cup over to Forcible.

Forcible took hold of her glasses and looked closely at the sign. After inspecting it for a few seconds, she turned the tea cup upside down, holding the cup with her right hand, and then rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh, April, you exaggerating nitwit. Look!" Forcible showed the cup to Spink, "You were clearly looking at it the wrong way round. The arrow is pointing up."

"Oh, balderdash!" Miss spink proclaimed, in her defence, "It's obviously pointing downwards."

"He was drinking it with his right hand," Forcible said, "and it's his future, so it's pointing upwards."

"Excuse me," Norman said, trying to get their attention, but the two women couldn't hear him over their constant bickering. "Excuse me!" he repeated, a little loader. This managed to get there attention. "What do you guys mean? What does this mean?" Norman asked, pointing to his tea cup.

The two elderly women looked at each other, then back at Norman, before Miss Spink said, "Oh, well, it's nothing major, this sign states that you might make a wrong-."

"Or right," Forcible added.

"-or right, choice in the near future," Spink continued.

"But, do not fear" Miss Forcible said, "sometimes these predictions are just a few hiccups."

"Absolutely", said Spink, "You have nothing to worry about." They were clearly not telling Norman everything, what, with them daring their eyes back and forth to each other, again.

"Well," Coraline said, while standing up and stretching her arms out, "I think it's time for me and the little Norbi to head off."

"Oh, already?" Miss Spink asked. "Well then, it was nice to meet you Norbert," she said, picking up Norman's empty cup.

"It was really nice to meet you both. Thanks again, for the tea," Norman said, standing up and walking towards the coat hangers, .

"All in the recipe, Mr. Norbert," said Miss Forcible, "And do not worry about the fortune, April's skills are fading anyway."

Spink frowned, "I could say the same about you."

Forcible turned back at Spink, in shock. "I'll have you know that my skills of fortune telling are as sharp as ever," Forcible said, in defence.

"Lies," Spink simply said.

"Are not," shouted Forcible.

"Are too," shouted Spink.

"Are not."

"Are too."

As Coraline and Norman watched the two continue to fight, Norman turned to Coraline, who shrugged and walked over to the door. Norman looked back at them and followed Coraline out the door, rolling his eyes and smiling.

* * *

"The little Norbi?" he questioned Coraline, with a small giggle, while the both of them reached the top of the stairs.

"What? It was the only thing I could think of," she said, before hitting Norman on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Norman proclaimed, "Again?"

"Yes, again," she proclaimed.

While Norman rubbed the spot where he was punched, he felt a few drops of water landing on his head. Coraline noticed as well. It was starting to rain.

"Ah, dang it." Coraline proclaimed. "You want to head to the porch?" she asked Norman.

"Sure, okay," Norman said.

The two of them ran to the stairs leading up to her house and stood on the porch. Norman zipped up his jacket, to stay warm.

"You want to head inside?" Coraline asked, "I got some snacks, if you want."

Norman looked back at the rain, "Actually, I wouldn't mind looking at the rain, but you can go in if you want."

"And leave you outside, no way." Coraline said, with a smirk, "Someone might try to take you away."

"Ha ha, very funny," said Norman, walking over to one of the wooden chairs. Coraline joined him.

"So, those two, huh?" Norman finally said.

"Yeah, they can be a little loopy," Coraline admitted.

"Do you know what they mean't by, _'a wrong direction'?_ " Norman asked.

Coraline thought it threw for a moment. "I don't really know," she said, in a way that seemed like she was not telling hime the whole story.

"Did you get a prediction from them?" Norman asked.

"Oh, yeah, many times," Coraline replied.

"Anything like that?" he added, jerking his thumb towards the basement.

"Well..., the first time was kind of strange," she said, "They told me that ' _danger_ ' was coming my way."

Norman looked puzzled, "Danger? What happened?"

"Oh, you know, bad luck... stuff, you know, you know," she said, strangely.

"What?" Norman asked.

"Like..., stepping on the cat," she said.

It took a while for Norman to figure out what she was talking about, "What ca- Oh, you mean the cat from yesterday?"

"Yeah," Coraline instantly said, "but those scratches though, jeez."

Norman giggled a little, then asked, "What was the sign in your drink like?"

Coraline was about to give him an answer, but then hesitated, "I'm not all that sure, actually. Spink first said it was the shape of a creepy hand, but then Forcible declared that it was a giraffe."

Norman smirked, "Well, we both know you haven't been killed by giraffe yet."

The both of them laughed at Norman's comment. When their laughter died down, Coraline said, "They are pretty crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, but still, I thought they were fun," Norman objected.

"Oh, yes, yes," Coraline quickly agreed, "I didn't mean they are annoying, but yet again, everyone here as a crazy side."

"Really?" Norman asked, receiving a nod from Coraline. He let out a relaxed sigh, "In that case, I could get used to this place."

Coraline raised an eyebrow, "You sure do like strange stuff, don't you?"

"Well, you could say that," Norman simply said, "Back where I come from, I'm what known for being obsessed with strange stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Coraline asked, still wanting to know more about Norman.

"Well... I like scary movies, anything that has zombies in it"

"You mean like ' _Night of the Dead_ '?" Coraline asked.

"Yeah, but I also like monsters- oh, and aliens too!" he said, excitedly, "You know, when my parents ask me what I watch, I'll usually say, "sex and violence"."

Coraline covered her mouth, from laughter, after hearing that. "Man, I've got to remember that," she said. "I quite like those types of movie too,- the monster movies, I mean," she added, "as long as their not cheap remakes. I'm not the biggest fan."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Norman.

The two of them just sat in silence for few seconds, looking at the rain. "The rain looks nice this afternoon, huh?" said Coraline.

"Yeah," Norman simply said, "Yeah it does."

They both continued to watch, as the rain turned into a light drizzle, with the sun peeking from behind the clouds. "So, how long are you staying for?"

"Um, about a week," said Norman, "My family really wanted to get away from our town."

"How come?" Coraline asked.

"Well, Mom really likes a change of scenery, especially since it gives her and Dad new things to talk about instead of the same old arguments over and over, but I don't really think my sister cares where we are as long as we have reception," Norman explained.

"Yeah, I saw her yesterday. She _really_ seems like the out door girl," Coraline sarcastically said, "But no offence."

"None taken," said Norman.

"And you?" asked Coraline.

"Well, I do like my home, but I don't miss it," Norman said, looking at the drizzling weather. "It's too normal and boring for a weirdo like me," he added with a smirk.

"That doesn't sound so bad. At least you still live in your home town," Coraline said, looking down at her shoes.

Norman turned around to look at Coraline. "What do you mean?" he asked, with concern.

Before Coraline could answer, the front door opened and out came Coraline's dad. "Hey there scamp. Oh," he said, noticing Norman, "This must be your new pal, huh?"

"Yeah dad," Coraline replied, "This is Norman."

"Nice to meet you," Norman said.

"Likewise," Mr Jones replied, then turned back to Coraline. "Say champ, if you wouldn't mind, I need some help with the pipes," he asked to his daughter.

"What, but you said the grown man of the house could handle it," she objected.

"Well, it turns out that this grown man needs some assistance with the ladder, that is if you guys aren't busy," her father said.

"Well, do I really have to?" Coraline asked.

"Kind of, yeah," he said.

Coraline sighed, stood up and faced Norman, "Sorry man, but I got to go and take care of this."

"No, no, it's fine, really," Norman said, "Would you like meet again tomorrow?"

"Yeah man," she said, before holding up her fist in front of him. "Till tomorrow?" she asked.

Norman smiled and bumped his fist with her's, "Till tomorrow."

Coraline smiled back before going inside with her dad.

Norman walked down the porch stairs and walked back to his house.

"Meow."

Norman turned to his right to see the same black cat from yesterday, sitting beside the house.

"Hey there, little guy," Norman said, walking over to pet the cat's head. The cat purred as Norman scratched it behind the ear.

"You remember me, don't you," he said. The cat just looked up at him and nothing else.

The cat then started to walk down the path back to Norman's apartment, but stopped about nine feet away from Norman. It meowed at Norman again.

"What is it?" Norman asked, looking in the direction of where his flat is.

The cat just looked behind itself and back at Norman.

"Okay," he said, feeling awkward about what was happening. "Well, I'll see you around," he said, as he walked down the path, back to his apartment.

The cat just sat and watched Norman go down the path, satisfied with it's work.

* * *

 _ **This chapter has been changed, a little, because of some plot points that I missed, I honestly feel really silly for it.**_

 _ **Special thanks to supernut24601, for noticing. Thanks again.**_


	3. No Eyes

_Norman shot his eyes open to find himself in… darkness. The same void of darkness from last night._

 _'Wait, what the…?' Norman thought to himself, 'I'm back here again?'_

 _Just like the night before, he closed his eyes and reopened them, to make sure he didn't have them closed, but, as expected, no luck._

 _Green fog suddenly came his way, and like last night, filled the entire void in green._

 _He was very confused. This was the second time in a row. Why was this happening to him?_

 _Now that he thought about it, he was suddenly reminded of something. When him and his family were driving down to the Pink Palace, he took a quick nap before they reached there destination, and in that nap, his dream consisted of brief flashes of the circumstances that were happening right now. He didn't tell his family when he woke up, as he thought it didn't mean anything._

 _Norman was having many suspicions now. When you add that strange nap in, it means that he currently has had three dreams with there visions, if that is what's going on. All of this began when his family were heading to the Pink Palace, and he has now had two full dreams of the same situation. Did this have anything to do with the Pink Palace or is this all a coincidence?_

 _He heard a woman crying. Norman was not really surprised anymore, seeing how he remembered the process from last night._

 _He was now expecting to find himself in the middle of a hand-shaped shadow. That didn't happen. Something different was happening._

 _A white dot appeared before him. Norman waited for something else to happen. The white dot just sat there. Norman reached for the dot, but he couldn't reach it. He then lost his footing, still trying to reach the dot, and stumbled forward. He looked at the dot again, and realised that the dot had grown bigger. It was then he discovered that the dot wasn't small, it was just far off in the distence._

 _Norman started to run towards the white dot and, as he hoped, it grew a little bigger with every step he took. He started to pick up the pace, he got closer. He was now running, he was practically in the light already._

 _He did it. He was now flouting in the light, to find… a door?_

 _Strangely, there was no mistake. In front of him, was a small wooden, very old looking door. He wondered, 'Should I open it?' Yet again, did he have any other option? He reached for the door handle and turned it. It didn't open. Correction, it would not open. Norman pulled as hard as he could to open the door, but it still wouldn't budge._

 _He then noticed something else. There was a key flouting right above him. He reached up and managed to grab it. He had a good look at the strange key. It was completely black and its end was the shape of a button, a button of which you would find on a shirt, or maybe as eyes for a doll._

 _Norman inserted the mysterious key into the keyhole. It unlocked the door. Norman pulled the key out of the keyhole and slowly opened the door, feasting his eyes on… nothing but white. Norman was confused by the fact that the door, which is centred in a white void, just lead to another white void. He went through the door anyway._

 _After Norman pasted through the door frame, leaving the door wide open, Norman began to have many suspicions as to what was going on._

 _He heard the door close behind him. He also realised that there wasn't a draft in the void. Did someone close the door? Was there… someone here? But he was the only one here. Right?_

 _"Norman?", said a faint whisper._

 _Norman became as still as a board. His eyes were as wide as plates and not a single muscle was moved._

 _"Norman?"_

 _"Uh… hello?"_

 _"Norman!"_

 _"Who's there?"_

 _As the mist began to clear away, Norman saw what appeared to be a very skinny shadow, moving in the beyond, facing away from him._

 _"Hello?" he called out to the mysterious figure._

 _The shadow then looked over towards Norman. In the blink of an eye, she was now floating in front of him. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I can finally talk to you," she said to him. Now the woman was in clear view. Norman could finally see her. This was, by far, the second strangest ghost he had ever seen, at least… he thought she was a ghost. She seemed more skinny up close, at least when it came to her waist, arms, neck and… legs? He couldn't see under that dark and constantly flowing dress. Her face was very pile and her hair was very sharp, but that was not the creepiest thing though. The one element that got his full attention, was her missing eyes. "What happened to her eyes?" he thought to himself. It also confused him that there was string hanging from where her eyes should be._

 _After a few seconds, Norman was finally abel to see speak to the mysterious woman. "Who… are you?" he asked._

 _"Oh, I'm sorry," she said chuckling, "Hyperactive as always. I'm the creator of this place"_

 _Norman was confused. "You mean… here?" he asked, waving his arms around the white void to see if it is what she mean't._

 _"Well, yes, here also," she said, with a smirk, "But, what I mean't was the Pink Palace."_

 _Norman's eyes when't wide, "Wait, really," he said, "You made the Pink Palace."_

 _"Why, yes," she nodded, "Someone had to. Duh! I'm the original owner of the palace and let me tell you, it's been a while since I've told someone that."_

 _Norman then realised that there was still a question in need of an answer, "Hold on a second. How do you know my name? And… you've been waiting for me?"_

 _"Of course! You're the one."_

 _"The what one?" he asked._

 _"The one that can talk to us. To me."_

 _This set off a light bulb in Norman's head. "Oh, of course," he said, smacking himself on the forehead, "You're a ghost! Because you'd have to be dead by now." he immediately regretted saying that in front of her, "Oh, I'm so sorry. It's just seeing that you must have existed so long ago-"_

 _"No, no, no, it's fine, it is a fact after all," she quickly said, waving it away, "I mean, I was terrified when I put it together, but I'm fine now."_

 _Norman smiled at her understanding nature. Even if she seemed quite unusual, she seemed very nice. "So, wait," he said, "If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you… you know…-"_

 _"Die?" said the woman. After Norman nodded his head, she didn't know where to start. "I fell down the well."_

 _"The well?" Norman asked, "You mean the well that's over the hill?"_

 _The woman nodded in response._

 _Again, Norman was confused, "But, how can that be? If you died there, then why are you this far away from it?"_

 _The woman rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually, you could say-"_

 _Before the woman could finish her statement, the door behind Norman burst open. The two of them looked back, startled by the sudden interruption. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind began to pull Norman backwards, towards the open door._

 _"Oh no," the woman said. "Not already!"_

 _The force of the wind pulled Norman faster to the door. Norman started to panic, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What's happening?!"_

 _The woman reached for Norman and managed to catch his hand._

 _"Don't go yet!" she shouted to him, "You have to get me out of here!"_

 _"Wait!" Norman shouted to her, "What do you mean?"_

 _She looked as though she didn't have much time left. And no wonder. She was losing her grip._

 _"Please, Norman," said the woman, hanging on to only the tips of his figures, "Please, help me get out of here! Help me!"_

Norman shot his eyes open to see that he was… on the bedroom floor?

Norman slowly got up on his feet, rubbing his eyes in tiredness. He saw that, along with him, the blanket is spread on the floor.

"What the what?" he said to himself.

He looked over and saw the moon shining on him and his bed. He didn't close his curtains. He slowly got up, feeling a little dizzy from just waking up, walked over to the curtains to close them. Before he could though, he caught a glimpse of the Pink Palace down the road. As he stood next to the window, looking at the Palace, he thought about the woman in his dream. Or was it a vision?

 _'Is this really happening,'_ he asked himself, in his thoughts, _'Was that really the original owner. Why does she need my help?'_

"Meow!"

The black cat appeared out of nowhere, as it jumped onto the other side of the window, making Norman jump back in surprise.

"Ahhh!" said Norman, panting on the floor. "What the heck are you doing here, little guy," Norman said, a little annoyed.

The cat didn't respond. Instead, he looked back at the hotel, for a few seconds, and looked back at Norman.

Norman stood up and looked at the cat, confused. Does the cat want to play? Does he want to come in? Even though Norman had these thoughts going off in his head, he was tired and just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Okay," Norman started, "I'm really tired, so you will have to wait until tomorrow. Okay? Good night," he said, closing the curtains.

Norman picked up his blanket, walked back to his bed, put the blanket back on the bed and got in the bed himself. He sighed, blissfully, as he rested his head on the pillow.

He could still hear the cat clawing on the window and meowing in a disgruntled manner, but it didn't stop Norman from going back to sleep.

Despite his decision to ignore it, the dream was still on his mind. Has he was lying down on his bed, all he could think of was, " _Will it happen again?_ "

* * *

 **To everyone reading, thank you very much for tolerating my unforgivable laziness. (Seriously, I don't have an excuse.) I am incredibly sorry that I have not updated anything for the past year. I will try to upload more chapters, even other stories, this year, because I got my passion for writing back. Again, sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


End file.
